Church that Gave $500 to Each Member Tells How Members Used the Money

Carrie Dedrick | Updated: Nov 26, 2014

Church that Gave $500 to Each Member Tells How Members Used the Money

A church that gave each of its members $500 to use as a blessing for someone else reported that the money has been spent. LaSalle Church in Chicago gave the money to church members after it received $1.6 million in a real estate deal. 

Pastor Laura Truax said that church members used the money for good in the community and around the world. 

One couple donated their portion to a program that provides fresh, healthy food to people in the city. 

La Salle member Janet Milkovich said, "It was wonderful. The manager of the Fresh Market Pantry said that there are a lot of senior citizens on the west side of Chicago that depend on the fresh market and are so appreciative of produce and they were going to make sure that they were able to get healthy food."

Another couple combined their money and donated the $1,000 to a Chicago after-school program called By The Hand. They also donated $1,000 of their own money and a another donor matched the $2,000 donation, making their gift total $4,000. 

Church member Eric Larson gave his money to a woman in West Africa whose leg had been amputated and needed a prosthetic.

Truax said Larson “was struck by was the amount that was needed which was exactly $500; this is just the way God does it though, right?"

LaSalle gave its members 10 percent of the money collected from the real estate deal so there is a large sum remaining. The church has not yet decided what to do with the money, but Truax said the church will not likely keep it. 

"That's the economy of God, we weren't created to be tight fisted people, we were created to be open handed people. To move past our fear. That's what's going on,” Truax said. 

Publication date: November 26, 2014



Church that Gave $500 to Each Member Tells How Members Used the Money